Finding Francis
by Kait Hobbit
Summary: After Lily recieves a letter welcoming her into a Potions Program following Hogwarts, she needs James' help to give a thank you to the Professors that helped her most. A extension of Dried Lilies Chapter 22.


AN: Originally, parts of this chapter were going to be included at the end of Chapter 22 of "Dried Lilies" but when my Beta and I reviewed it, we realized it took away from the story line. This month is the year anniversary since I started writing Dried Lilies so as a little gift to you all, here's a chapter that I didn't add, but couldn't erase. Cheers- kh.

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><p>Finding Francis<p>

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><p>She finished scrapping her plate clean after the large breakfast James had arranged for her and turned her attention to the boy at her side. James didn't notice her empty plate, nor that her attention had returned to him. He was busy stopping every other person who walked by their spot at the table; "Oi, Shacklebolt, did you hear? Lily got accepted in to the St. Mungo Potions Research Institute? That real prestigious one—'Lo Doris, you know that nasty acne problem you have? Give it a few years and Lily will have a potion to cure that forever…"<p>

A year ago, she would've rolled her eyes and ignore James completely, but this after this year working together of heads, of becoming friends and something more then that, Lily Evans found her self fighting back a smile. She was ecstatic. But she wasn't thrilled about the letter she had just received, the letter that accepted her into the Prestigious Potions Research Institute at St. Mungos. Yes, that was a cause to celebrate. She would be playing a part in developing potions for medical purposes. She would be on the cutting edge of potion research.

Lily was living on a combined thrill of _that, _but the highlight of her joy was watching James celebrate the reaching of her dream. _Perhaps we'll be able to work something out, _she thought in a near prayer, _Perhaps he can be an auror and you can be a potions researcher-and somehow both find time to fight Voldemort and have a relationship on the side._ That was the only thing that was worrying her, how Voldemort and his Death Eaters would factor into her future with James . . .

She could wait for what the Death Eaters had planned for her, but the letter also made her realize another person she had to face. There was slight detail of how she as going to tell Professor Slughorn she was not interested in accepting his career offer. Over the past few months Professor Slughorn, who had a well-known soft spot for Lily, had been trying to persuade her to join a few other slugs at the International Potions Corps in Switzerland. Although the IPC was more prestigious than the St. Mungo program, Lily didn't want to be far away in the Alps, away from family, the resistance effort, away from James. And yet, there was a nagging prang of guilt that she needed to do something for the Professor who would probably be disappointed with her choice.

"Prongs you don't need to announce this to the entire school," Sirius sighed, scooping another helping of hashbrowns on his plate as James tried flagging down Keiko Mai and Phil Chang who had just risen from the Ravenclaw table with a similar letter in hand. "At the rate you're going, the entire school will know and it won't be because _she _told them."

"It's alright Sirius," Lily replied resting her head on James' shoulder as she wrapped her arm in his. She gave a playful, teasing smile as she looked up at James, "Its in times like this I realize just how much that big head of his has shrunk." She looked at him quick enough to a shadow of a blush under his glasses. "_Now_ can you help me with a bit of transfiguration?"

"I don't get it," he started, looking at her as though she had been hexed into madness. " You're joking right? You just got into one of the most prestigious programs in the country and you want—"

"I ate everything on the plate," she said firmly. This was a half-truth. Whenever James had been bragging and his attention had wandered, she had scooped spoonfuls of eggs, pudding, and oatmeal on Peter's plate while casting an evil eye to each of the marauders as though she dared them to tell James what she was doing. Loosing her hold on his arm and lifting her head from his shoulder, "You said you'd help and—"

A lopsided grin came to his face, "I know, I just like seeing you get a reeled up every now and again—all right—" he sighed; giving into the nasty look she gave him. He stood up, grabbing both his and Lily's bags.

"I'll see you lot later," he said his three brothers. Peter gave a wave, Sirius a nod in return—he was trying to _act_ as though he was intently listening to Vera McKinnon—and Lupin smile as he shook his head, muttering something about the studious Lily Evans.

"So what are we doing?" James asked as they walked up out the hall, away from the morning buzz of students. "What am I working with?"

She bit her lip as though she was nervous about something. "Come on Lily, if I can transform into a Stag on demand surly I can help you with what you need."

"Is there anyway," she asked cautiously, her words balancing on a fence separating her from doubt and embarrassment "Is there anyway we could make something transform from a lily?"

"If you want, I could transform a Lily Evans into a Lily Potter. It's not to hard, all we need a short man with pompus robes and I need to find a ring-pending what you say I could probably transfigure a lock of hair into a ring," James said with a wink, dodging her attempt to punch his arm.

"I'm serious James!" Lily said with exasperation, a flush of red blush filling her cheeks. "I want to give a gift to a professor, and I—I want it to be a surprise. If it has a lily then he'll know that it's from me."

James' eyebrows knit together for a minute, as though the closer they came together, the closer he came to discovering what Lily had it mind. "Come on, let's go find you a lily," he told her as they headed out the double doors and into the spring morning.

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><p>((*))<p>

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><p>"What are we doing here?" Lily asked as she looked at the Greenhouses. "James—"<p>

"We're getting you a lily, Lily," he answered simply. The greenhouses were still dark, shadowed by the castle from the morning sun. She could see him looking at the colony of Greenhouses, inspecting the scene as though he was expecting some obstacle to suddenly appear.

"I think we want Greenhouse number four," he started casually, "best be quick—"

"James—we're not supposed to be here," Lily started following him as he made his way towards the greenhouse nearest to the castle. "If Professor Leif finds out—this is his _private_ greenhouse—can't we just transfigure one of Sirius' quills and—"

"You can't double dip with transfiguration," James stared, waving his wand at one of the side windows before climbing inside. "You can, but when you do you weaken how good the transformation will be and the longtivity of what you're meddling with."

"But does it have to be a lily from _this _garden?" she asked weakly following his lead through the window. She felt sick. She didn't mind breaking rules when it was for the greater good, but she highly doubted a present for Slughorn met that description. She could only imagine what would happen if Professor Leif arrived. The burley professor was known for his notorious ice blue eyes and bushy eyebrows. They said he was from the North Country, the descendent of Viking Wizards; student usually did whatever they could to avoid detentions with him in order to avoid his unknown methods of punishment.

"There's no other garden that have lilies here at Hogwarts," he said, with almost delighted to be in a dangerous situation. "In fact, we're lucky Leif even has lilies, most wizards prefer magic flowers," he gestured at the walls of dragon snaps that were blowing wisps of fire at caterpillars trying to eat their leafs. Lily began looking at other parts of the greenhouse.

When she was younger, Petunia had been a petunia in Stockport Community Theater's presentation of "Alice in Wonderland." Looking at some of the flowers surrounding her, she nearly expected some of the flowers to start scolding her for sneaking in, and asking who this boy was. Alongside the dragon snaps, were sunflowers that had a faint light radiating from the edges of the petals and clusters of posies that seemed to be gossiping with the gladiolas.

"He's made some modifications to these flowers," James told her, motioning to the more familiar flowers Lily had grown up with. "He's a new age herbologists see these?" he waved his wand at the little blue flowers clustered together, magically snipping them as they feel into Lily's open hands.

"Forget-me-nots," he smiled, putting her hands in his so they both cupped the flowers. "Keep them with you, and you'll always think of one who gave them to you."

"Are you sure they just don't remember because the girl has a fancy for the person who gave them to her?" she asked, raising an eye brow, "My sex has a tendency to over read things, just ask Vera."

"Nope. You hold the flowers and it's like holding a pensive, it'll all come back to you," he shrugged, dropping her hands and continuing his quest "If you ever need a happy memory, just hold your Forget-me-nots and you'll have me."

She looked at the flowers in her hands doubtfully, although all she could already recall the heat of James' hands in hers. _I bet Sirius doesn't know James is such a sentimental sap-_but even that thought couldn't shadow the glowing warmth that came from the flowers in her hand. She placed them in her pocket and took a turn to the other side of the greenhouse as they split up the search. _You ought to hurry—Professor Leif could arrive anytime._

She thought about substituting lilies with tulips after looking at the red and yellow blossoms surrounding a marble statue of some muggle saint she had seen the Vicar of St. Mary's use in his garden near his parish. And then there were the sweat peas—there were some the same shade of her hair…but he would recognize who sent him a lily.

"Since when did you become the herbologist?" she called from the other side of the room, looking at a collection of rose bushes that seemed to have grown without thorns "Didn't you drop the class after you completed your O.W.L.s?"

"Nah, I need it for training," His voice replied. "My mum's the gardener out of us Potters. She keeps some rose bushes that bloom year round. Oh-and she also has a few other flowers in the conservatory. House Elves help her a bit, but its Mum's longest lasting hobby."

She stopped admiring the daises that had begun dancing around the daffodils. "You have a conservatory in your house?" she asked, somewhat taken aback. She knew the Potters were wealthy, but a _conservatory..._

"Yeah-its a right pain in the neck when you have to clean it without magic-_that_ was mums favorite punishment," James' voice echoed, "Anyway, you best read up on your herbology, you'll need it working with potion ingredients."

_Isn't that the truth, _she thought, her mind returning to the job and why she was in the greenhouse to begin with, to find that ruddy gift for eyes did a final scan of her surroundings and turned around. "I thought you said there were lilies here," Lily called over to James who was on the opposite side.

"I did," James smiled, returning to her with an impish grin. "Look" and a small, perfect, water lily appeared in his hand.

"Where did you find it?" She asked, her fingertips dancing atop the edges to feel the gentle curl of the petals. She felt like a sea nymph playing with her greatest creation.

"It was in a little pond in the back. He had a few lilies on pads and others that were growing beside it," he looked as though he had more to say when the door to the Greenhouse creaked and the sound of boots against the gravel came from the front of the green house, behind the hibiscus hedges.

"I think we ought to get out now," Lily started, surprised how quick she was bolting towards the window James had opened on their entry. "Come on Potter-"

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><p>Upon arrival back in the Castle, James had taken Lily to one of the spare classrooms in the charms corridor. Conjuring a glass bowl and filling it with water, he gingerly took the flower and placed it on top.<p>

"So what will it be?" He asked looking at the bowl. "Shall I transform it into a slug? A slug for Slughorn?"

"Absolutely not!" Lily started, her nose wrinkling with disgust. "Professor Slughorn has human slugs-and if we gave him one, I suppose he would dissect it for its magical properties and use those as potion ingredients for class," she sighed, tapping her fingers on the glass bowl. "No, we need something more. What else could you transform it into?"

James looked at her as though she had just questioned his magical capabilities all together. "What part of _I-can-transform-into-a-stag_ don't you seem to understand?"

"Right," she muttered, slightly red, "Alright-what other ideas do you have toad brain?"

"Ouch Lily, that hurt," he smiled, holding a hand against his heart." Do you want it to be a living thing? We could just transform it into a mirror with silver Lilies along the boarder-I could try for gold ones but I've never played with the golden enchantment and he might end up growing a little more orange every time he looks into it... Or we could get Sirius in on it-believe it or not, Sirius is good with transforming flowers into quills that smell nice. Only problem, one tried biting off Peter's nose-yes, it would be better if we didn't get Sirius."

"I want it to be something living," Lily explained, looking down on the flower. She could remember months and months ago-what almost felt _ages _ago sitting in Professor Slughorn's office as he interrogated her about her plans following graduation, and what more, how she felt about James Potter. That's how Slughorn always was, teasing any of his slugs about their relationships, whether it be with friends or possible significant others. But on that particular visit, he had told her that "His Slugs were his family," considering that he had never found a woman who would consent to being Mrs. Slughorn (and although she wouldn't say it, she doubted he could ever find such a woman).

"Slughorn see's his slugs as though we're his children," Lily explained, her eyes moving up from the flower to face James. "It's a little odd I know, but it's his way of making up for not having a family. I don't know if I'd call him fatherly, but he is practically like a Grandfather to me."

James gave a nod as though he too was trying to comprehend this "So the question is, what would you like to give your grandfather?"

She could feel her teeth gnaw her lip as she thought. _What says "Thank You for everything over the years, I'm sorry I won't be taking up the post you found me in Switzerland, but you alls have been my favorite professor?"_ She had thought perhaps a sea horse, but even that was too random for her Professor. He'd keep it for a little while but once he fell short of sea horse tails in his ingredient cabinet...

_Something simple, something that will be there so long as I am-even longer. _But what had such a long life? She didn't want to admit James was right; a toad might be her best option. It certainly lived longer than a goldfish.

_A goldfish..._

"James, if we transfigured this lily into a goldfish, how long do you think the fish would live?" she asked quickly.

He looked at her, and then the lily and then up at her again, "You wouldn't need the entire lily. This one's big enough you'd get a whole school of Goldfish..."

"But that's not what I asked," Lily sighed, "How long would the fish live?"

He pulled one petal off and placed it in her hand, "If you want, we could make the fish live as long as either you or Slughorn-who ever dies first, that's when the fish dies. Seeing how you're younger, it'll be his friend till his dying day."

"How do you do that?" she asked as she held the little lily petal. "Just a little charm I know, and even if I get it wrong, it'll make sure this goldfish lives longer than they normally do," James explained, rolling up his sleeves.

"Perfect_,"_ she smiled. But now she only had one more worry, how could they transform the petal into a fish, set the charm and allow Professor Slughorn to witness it all?

"You wait here and I'll go get my cloak," James began, "We can do the charm before we leave and then all we'll do is wait for your Professor Grandpa under the cloak and together we'll do the transfiguration," he seemed to beam. _How is it he always knows what to say?_ She thought to herself, looking down at the lily flower, now on the side of the bowl as the solitary petal floated on top of the water.

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><p>((*))<p>

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><p>Horace Slughorn hated his office. It was small, and had a draft. In the winters it was like an ice chest. In the summer, he often took vacation from his oven. For the longest part in his tenure at Hogwarts, he believed his room was the reason for summer holiday. After all, they wouldn't keep many potions masters if they were expected to stay in <em>this <em>room over the summer.

If it wasn't for his skill at temperament charms, he would not have lasted this long. One of the reasons he annually threatened to leave his post was actually a hope that they would move him to a better room. It had worked under Dippit, but Dumbledore wasn't as easily persuaded.

He only had a few lectures left before the term would end. This was among his happiest times of year—he loved seeing his Slugs leave the school and go to the connections he'd set up. While some of the slugs would only have fifteen minutes of glory in his memory, some, like his dear Lily Evans, held a pedestal no one could push her from.

_And she's not taking my connection, _he sighed, pouring some tea from his emerald teapot. This simply did not happen. He couldn't remember the last time a student chose not to accept his connections. Or rather, someone succeed _after _refusing his connections. Normally, his little prodigies ran to these connections with open arms, sent a generic thank you card, and fell into the roll he found them in society.

But that would not be the case with Lily. His former slug in Switzerland had mailed him a few days ago saying he had gotten a polite decline from Miss. Evans, who said '_she had found employment more agreeable to her character and pursuits, but thanked us anyway for our interest in her career path."_ Although he didn't want to, he blamed Potter for all of this. If she had just chosen to loathe him one more year, she would have the life she had always dreamed of, but love—the only vice of Gryffindor—seemed to have pushed her to the fate of a measly Hospital researcher.

_But even a Research Institute as common as St. Mungo's would glow with a Lily in Love, _the voice of reason sounded, _and what is more lovely than a Lily in Love? _Surly she would blossom there, creating her own connections, probably becoming head of the institute by the time she was twenty-one and gain enough academic prestige she'd be invited to return as a professor by the time she was thirty.

Such a lovely thought. He wouldn't deny he would swell with pride if she ever returned to become Potions Master here. With all the skill and talent she had, it was possible-but that was if she worked on her career and _not _meddled much more with Plan-deferring-Potter...

"Where's my blasted sugar cubes?_"_ He sighed, his brain turning practical again in the oven of a classroom as he began looking around the tea set. He couldn't have tea without a cube, that was a near sin to these sort of tealeaves—and then he remembered the Muggle Potions treat he had done with the third years for their last class—something called smoothies a muggleborn had suggested.

_This slug needs sugar, _he grumbled, leaving his office. He walked down the old set of stairs to the conjoining room, swearing that he was getting to old for this, complaining about the quality of the smoothie not having being of any worth, when he saw it.

In a glass basin, a springtime lily petal rested on the millpond calm water. He walked quicker so he could get a better look at it. "Hello," he smiled, looking around the basin in search for a note, or a face for an explanation. It was a plain glass basin, no magical qualities whatsoever. "What are you doing here?" he asked, "You're far away from your pond aren't you?" At the sound of his voice, the petal began to descend, gracefully submitting to the control of the water.

"Aren't you beautiful," he asked gently, wondering where the other petals were from this flower. It was such a soft lily petal, but its descent was turning it yellow, then a soft orange—no, golden—

With wide eyes, Horace Slughorn bent down to see the golden fish that was now swimming about the basin. "She's out done herself this time, hasn't she?" he asked the bowl, a smiling stretching wide across his old face "You know how talented she is, but I'll say-Merlin has she out done herself this time."

"What do you think he'll name it?" James asked from under the invisibility cloak, resting his head on top of hers. "I have no idea," she answered, in a quiet whisper, watching as Slughorn picked up his new fish and levitated the sugar cubes to come behind him. He was already having a full on conversation with the fish, asking how it liked its tea and again going on about Lily.

"But he knows. He knows who it's from, and I think that's all that matters," she smiled watching her professor. Although she knew it was still possible he wasn't proud of her choice of careers, she knew he was proud of her and perhaps he'd now always have a friend in his office.

James wrapped his arms around her shoulders, whispering in her ear "I'm really proud of you, my dearest little poitioneer."

She allowed her body to soften against his touch, "I know," she answered, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder "And that's all that matters."

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><p>AN: As always, I love knowing what y'all thought! Feel free to leave a review or send a PM.-KH.<p> 


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